Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Bustin' through

I don't like getting over an obstacle. I think that if a person truly has a sports-performance limitation, and they are serious about being on the other side of it, they need to bust through it like the A-Team breaking out of a South American jail. Don't screw around with barely overcoming; own it, focus on it, and beat it like it owes you money!To me there is huge satisfaction in breaking through a wall in my training. So much so, that I believe the passage through is more satisfying than the performance level reached. I look at what used to confine me (mostly mental, but somewhat physical) and laugh at it. It has become not a wall, but a stepping stone that I thrust off of with all my might! I own it, I'm done with it, and I'm better because of it's demise.Today I went to the pool at lunch to do a long easy endurance swim. I planned on doing 1250 yds at a very moderate pace. That's 50 lengths of the pool at the Y. I started off with a good pace, and felt strong. I was breathing incredibly easily, and picked up the pace a bit. I felt so good, in fact, that I decided to go for 1500 yds. The last 100 yds was at nearly an all-out pace, and I felt really strong. I could easily have gone another 500-1000 yds at the pace I had been keeping, but my (very minuscule) guilt for taking too long a lunch hour made me finish up. I checked my time, and was really happy! I got back to work and plugged it in my training log...I averaged 1m 58s per 100 yds, which would have been my race pace a couple of months ago. And the kicker is, I was wearing my big baggy high-drag shorts! This is the farthest distance I've ever swam, and the strongest I've EVER felt in the pool. Hey, Clemson Sprint Triathlon! I'm coming for you, and I'm not gonna let up. It's on! I'll take you down; downtown to Chinatown!